THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

The concept of justice is as old as the origin and growth of human society. A
man living in society desires peace and, while living in he tends to experience a
conflict of interests and expects a rightful
conduct on the others part. And therefore, jurists like Salmond and Roscoe
Pound have emphasized the importance of justice.
Through the instrumentality of law regulated by the state, the concept of justice
became clearer. As the law grew and developed the concept of justice walked
parallel and expanded its tentacles into different spheres of human activities.
The essence of legal justice lies in ensuring uniformity and certainty of law and
at the same time ensuring the rights and duties duly respected by all. The
notion of justice is the impartiality imbibed in it.
The violation of justice which is enforced by the law results in state sanction as
‘punishment’.
Definition of Justice
The term justice has been derived from the Latin word ‘Jungere’ which means
to bind or tie together, thus in this way it can be stated as justice is the key
ailment which ties the individuals in the society together and harmonizes a
balance between them and enhances human relation.
Justice Coke it has been rightly said that ‘wisdom of law and justice is wiser
than man’s wisdom,’ thereby legal justice represents the collective wisdom of
the community which Rousseau called as ‘General Will’ of the people.
Blackstone- “Justice is a reservoir from where the concept of right, duty, and
equity evolves.”
Salmond- “Though every man wants to be righteous and just towards him, he
himself being ‘selfish’ by nature may not be reciprocal in responding justly.”
According to him, some kind of external force is necessary for maintaining an
orderly society, and without justice it is unthinkable.
Importance of Administration of Justice
Justice is said to be ultimate end of law and the goal of
society, which judges of the courts have been pouring into
law with new variants of justice in the form of contemporary
values and need based rights like freedom, liberty,dignity,
equality and social justice, as ordained in the constitutional
document.
Accoring to J. Krishna Iyer in State of Haryana v Darshna
Devi [AIR 1979 SC 855]case “Access to justice is the
foundation of the Constitution.”
The Concept of Social Justice
The concept of social justice is enshrined in the legislation in two forms;
• By removing the existing socio-economic and political inequalities and
discrepancies
• By enacting laws to achieve the socio economic objective of welfare state.

In the words of Chief Justice, P. B. Gajendragadkar-social justice means

ending all kinds of social inequalities and then provide equal opportunities to
all.
In Prakash Cotton Mills v. State of Bombay, 1957 II LLJ 490 (Bom) case J. M.
C. Chagla observed that “we are no longer living in the laissez-faire.... it is true
that social justice is imponderable, and we asked not to introduce the
principles of social justice in constructing legislation that comes for
interpretation before us. But in our opinion, no economic, social or labor
legislation can be considered by the court without applying the principles of
social justice in interpreting these related provisions of law.

While in the case of State of Mysore v. Workers of Gold Mines 1958 II LLJ 479
(SC) the Supreme Court observed that the concept of social justice is a living
concept of revolutionary impact: it gives substance to rule of law and meaning
and significance to the ide
a of welfare of the state.
Distributive Justice
Social justice may be in the form of distributive justice or corrective
Justice. It seeks to ensure a fair distribution of social benefits and budens
among the members of the community.
The concept of distributive justice finds its expression in Articles
14(equality before law), 15(prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of
religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth), 16(equality of opportunity in
matters of public employment) and 39 (b) and (c) [(b) ownership and
control of the material resources and its equal distribution, (c) operation of
the economic system not resulting to the concentration of wealth and
means of production to the common detriment], of the constitution of
India.
Merits and Demerits of Administration of Justice
Merits:
Uniformity
Certainity
Impartiality
Equality

Demerits:
Regidity
Formality
Complexity of Laws
Civil and Criminal Justice
Broadly speaking, justice may be of two kinds
CIVIL and CRIMINAL
Civil Justice:
Blackstone called it as ‘private wrong’. It has been defined as civil
injuries where violation or infringement of civil or legal rights of
an individual is taken into consideration. A civil case may result in
an award of compensation or dismissal of the case. In
jurisprudential term, the right of justice is enforced through the
administration of civil justice which connotes enforcement and
protection of rights as opposed to the punishment of wrongs.
Primary and Secondary Rights
The rights to be enforced through administration of civil justice may
either be primary or secondary rights.
Primary Rights are rights which do not have the violation of another
right.
Sanctioning right is one which arises out of the violation of another right.
It is also called as remedial right because it comes into existence
consequent to violation of a private right.
Primary rights; is also called specific performance wherein the defendant
is compelled to do the very act which is agreed upon to be done. For
instance, payment of debt, or to perform a contract or restore land or
property wrongfully taken or detained.
And on the other hand, is the Sanctioning rights; where the right to receive
pecuniary compensation or damages from wrongdoer may be of two kinds:
(i) restitution- here the defendant is compelled to give up or restore the
pecuniary value or some benefit which he has wrongfully obtained.
(ii) The penal redress, where it is not only restoration of all benefits which
the wrongdoer has achieved through his wrongful acts, but also a full redress
for the plaintiff loses.
Declaration of Right
The petitioner may approach civil court not for enforcement of any right but for
a declaration that such right exists, though it is presently not in dispute, but a
dispute in regard to it may arise in future.
For eg: Legitimacy of Children or Nullity of Marriage, Interpretation of Will etc.
Sec 42 of the Specific Relief Act 1963 provides for declaratory right with the
following Conditions
• Declaration must relate either to the plaintiff’s legal character or to a right to
property
• The Defendant should have denied or be interested in denying the Plaintiff’s
title is such right
• The Plaintiff should not have asked for a consequential relief. If consequential
relief along with declaration of right has been sought the suit would be
dismissed
Civil Suits- Causes of Delay
Section 9 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 defines a civil suit. The civil courts in India have
the power to try all suits of civil nature excepting those the cognizance of which is expressly
or impliedly barred. These courts can grant declaratory, prohibitory, and momentary
reliefs.
The Procedural formalities involved in inspection, admission of facts
and interrogation are some inevitable hurdles.
Interlocutory application contribute to delay because quite often an
interim order continues to operate almost till the culmination of the
litigation.
Much time will waste in the formality – The Plaintiff in plaint has
to mention all the necessary particulars as mentioned in Order 7
Rules 1 to 18 of C.P.C and particulars to be set forth in the Written
Statement (WS) should be in accordance with the Order 8 Rule 1 to
10 of C.P.C
At the evidential stage, there is no time limit to the number of witnesses to be
examined by the party and Cross Examination of witnesses consumes lot of
time.
After the completion of evidence the case comes to the stage of argument.
Repitition of the same facts and citing of voluminous case laws make the
argument boring and lawyers generally drag on the case.
Then final stage of Judgement which has to be on each and every issue. This is
the form of ‘decree’ or dismissal of the case.
Frequent adjournments, applications for substitution of heirs of the deceased
further prolongs the suit.
Most troublesome part is the execution of the decree, particularly decree for
recovery of immovable property and realization of money in a money suit.
Model Rules for Speedy Dispensation of Civil Justice
Based on the recommendation of J. M. Jagannadha Rao
amendments in Sec. 89 of CPC were introduced in 1999 and 2002 to
provide quick dispensation of justice in civil cases by providing
recourse to the Alternative Disputes Resolution System [ADRs]
Salem Advocates Association, Tamil Nadu vs Union of India
Under the amended sec. 89 of CPC, the parties to a civil suit would
be offered an opportunity to sort out their problem and dispute by
resorting to ADRs and it is only when these alternative methods
fail, the case would be finally taken up for hearing for disposal by
the civil court.